Map Tools & Models
This round model of the Earth shows land, water, and countries in an accurate spherical shape.
What is a globe?
This type of location describes where a place is compared to something else using words like "near" or "below".
What is a relative location?
Horizontal lines that circle the Earth showing distance north and south from the Equator.
What is latitude?
A map showing natural features of an area, such as landforms, mountains, valleys, lakes, and streams.
What is a physical map?
A term for any half division of the Earth, such as north/south or east/west.
What is a hemisphere?
Drawings of places around the world that show where locations are and help you find direction.
What is a map?
A place's exact location, such as a street address or map coordinates.
What is absolute location?
Vertical lines running from the North Pole to the South Pole showing distance east and west.
What is longitude?
A map showing the borders of regions, countries, states, and cities.
What is a political map?
The imaginary line dividing the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
What is the Equator?
The map tool that explains what the symbols and colors on a map represent.
What is a legend (or key)?
Telling a friend your house is "across from the supermarket" is an example of this kind of location.
What is relative location?
An imaginary horizontal line running around the middle of the world.
What is the Equator?
A map showing weather patterns over a long period of time, including warm/cold or wet/dry areas.
What is a climate map?
The Earth is divided into 24 of these because it rotates once around its axis each day.
What are time zones?
Look at this tool on a map when you need to measure the distance from one place to another.
What is a scale?
A grid system using letters and numbers to label grid lines and locate items on a map.
What is an alphanumeric grid?
The primary line of longitude that divides the world into Eastern and Western halves.
What is the Prime Meridian?
A map used to show the overall distribution of where people live within an area.
What is a population map?
The starting location for world time zones, passing through Greenwich, England.
What is the Prime Meridian in Greenwich (or Greenwich Mean Time)?
The official title of a person who creates maps and decides what to include on them.
What is a cartographer?
Between relative and absolute location, this one is more helpful when trying to find an unfamiliar place.
What is absolute location?
Another name for lines of longitude that run from pole to pole.
What are meridians?
Maps that identify American Indian lands and connect groups based on heritage.
What are tribal maps?
Located halfway around the world from the Prime Meridian, this imaginary line defines the boundary between one day and the next.
What is the International Date Line?